Method for manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising a thin semiconductor wafer

ABSTRACT

A method for manufacturing a vertical power semiconductor device is provided, wherein a first impurity is provided at the first main side of a semiconductor wafer. A first oxide layer is formed on the first main side of the wafer, wherein the first oxide layer is partially doped with a second impurity in such way that any first portion of the first oxide layer which is doped with the second impurity is spaced away from the semiconductor wafer by a second portion of the first oxide layer which is not doped with the second impurity and which is disposed between the first portion of the first oxide layer and the first main side of the semiconductor wafer. Thereafter a carrier wafer is bonded to the first oxide layer. During front-end-of-line processing on the second main side of the semiconductor wafer, the second impurity is diffused from the first oxide layer into the semiconductor wafer from its first main side by heat generated during the front-end-of-line processing.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of power semiconductordevices and in particular to a method for manufacturing a semiconductordevice comprising a thin semiconductor wafer which involvesfront-end-of-line processing on the front side of the semiconductorwafer as well as back side processing.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

From EP 1 065 706 A2 there are known integrated circuits, semiconductordevices and methods for making the same. Each embodiment shows adiffused, doped backside layer in a device wafer that is oxide bonded toa handle wafer. The diffused layer may originate in the device wafer, inthe handle wafer, in the bond oxide or in an additional semiconductorlayer of polysilicon or epitaxial silicon. The methods use a thermalbond oxide or a combination of a thermal and a deposited oxide.

From WO 94/23444 A2 there is known low temperature wafer bonding using achemically reacting material between wafers to form a bonded zone tobond two wafers together. Examples include silicon wafers with asilicon-oxidizing bonding liquid which also permits introduction ofradiation hardening dopants and electrically active dopants asconstituents of the bonding liquid. Silicon wafers also may use solidreactants which include deposited layers of metal and polysilicon toform silicide bonded zones. Oxidizers such as nitric acid may be used inthe bonding liquid, and a bonding liquid may be used in conjunction witha solid bonding reactant. Dielectric layers on silicon wafers may beused when additional silicon is provided for the bonding reactions.Integrated circuits fabricated from such bonded wafers may have buriedlayers and radiation hardening and buried resistors.

From U.S. Pat. No. 5,034,343 A there is known a process includingbonding a first device wafer to a handle wafer by an intermediatebonding oxide layer and thinning the device wafer to not greater than 7mils. An epitaxial device layer of under 1 mil may be added. Deviceformation steps are performed on a first surface of the first devicewafer. This is followed by removing the handle wafer to produce aresulting wafer having substantially the thickness of the first devicelayer. To produce a silicon on insulator (SOI), a third device wafer isbonded to the first surface of the first device wafer by theintermediate oxide layer and the third wafer is thinned to not greaterthan 40 microns. The first and third device wafers form the resultingSOI wafer.

From U.S. Pat. No. 6,872,640 B1 there are known CMOS devices formed witha Silicon On Insulator (SOI) technology with reduced Drain InducedBarrier Lowering (DIBL) characteristics and a method for producing thesame. The method involves a high energy, high dose implant throughopenings in a masking layer and through channel regions of the p- andn-wells, into the insulator layer, thereby creating aborophosphosilicate glass (BPSG) diffusion source within the insulationlayer underlying the gate regions of the SOI wafer substantially betweenthe source and drain. Backend high temperature processing steps inducediffusion of the dopants contained in the diffusion source into the p-and n-wells, thereby forming asymmetric retrograde dopant profiles inthe channel under the gate. The method can be selectively applied toselected portions of a wafer to tailor device characteristics, such asfor memory cells.

From US 2013/0221403 A1, a manufacturing process for a low voltage IGBTof 400 V is known, which has been optimized for low conduction andswitching losses while having improved mechanical stability by having alower thickness in the active area and a higher thickness in thetermination area by an increased thickness of the p collector layer. Thedevice is manufactured by providing a p doped CZ wafer and an n-doped FZwafer, on which an n doped buffer layer has been implanted and annealed.The two wafers are bonded together with a SiO film in between andn-wafer thickness is reduced to 40 μm. Now front sided layers arecreated and then the wafer is thinned on the back side in the activeregion, but thickness is maintained in the termination region.Afterwards boron is implanted over the entire back side in the bufferlayer in the active region and into the p doped FZ wafer in thetermination region. Laser anneal is performed for driving-in the pdopant.

Lowering the production costs is an important goal in the manufacturingof semiconductor devices. One means for lowering the costs inmanufacturing of semiconductor devices is to use semiconductor waferswith a larger diameter. Using larger wafers can significantly increasethe yield in semiconductor device manufacturing. Semiconductor powerdevices such as insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) are meanwhilemanufactured on wafers with diameters up to 300 mm.

In fabrication of vertical power devices, such as IGBTs, bi-modeinsulated gate transistors (BIGTs), PIN diodes, gate turn off (GTO)thyristors and others, for which the current runs through the device ina direction vertical to the wafer plane, front and back side are to besubjected to production processes. Backside processing includes formingof a buffer layer, an anode layer and/or of a cathode layer by ionimplantation and subsequent thermal activation. Since the devicethickness does not fit to the SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment andMaterials International) standards for the particular wafer sizeshandling of thinned wafers must be mastered. Handling of thin largewafers involves the risk of wafer breakage or mechanical damage.

A known manufacturing method for a semiconductor device is explainedbriefly with reference to FIGS. 1a to 1f . First a low-doped n-typesilicon wafer 1 with a front side 2 and a back side 3 as shown in FIG.1a is subjected to front-end-of-line processing on the front side 2. Theterm front-end-of-line-processing shall include all semiconductor devicemanufacturing process steps up to (but not including) the deposition ofmetallization layers. Exemplarily, it shall include all high temperatureprocess steps with a temperature above 900° C. In case of manufacturingan IGBT front-end-of-line processing results in a topology on the frontside 2 of the wafer 1 with inter alia p-type regions 4, oxide layers 5and poly-silicon gates 6 as shown in FIG. 1b . During allfront-end-of-line high temperature treatments an edge termination region(not shown in the figures) is driven into the wafer 1 from its frontside 2 up to a depth of 15 μm. Subsequently to the front-end-of-lineprocessing a top metallization layer 7 is formed on the front side.Thereafter the wafer 1 is thinned to obtain a thinned wafer 1′ as shownin FIG. 1c . Thinning of wafer 1 usually includes a combination ofmechanical grinding and chemical etching. Next back side processing ofthe thinned wafer 1′ is performed. In a first step of the back sideprocessing, an n-type buffer layer 8 is formed on the back side 3′ ofthe thinned wafer 1′ by deep diffusion as shown in FIG. 1d . Thereaftera thin highly doped p-type anode layer 9 is formed on the back side ofthe thinned wafer by diffusion of a p-type dopant into the thinned wafer1′ from its backside 3′ as shown in FIG. 1e . The implanted dopants ofthe n-type buffer layer 8 and of the p-type anode layer 9 have to beactivated by a heat treatment. To avoid affecting the processed frontside of the wafer laser thermal annealing (LTA) processes are state ofthe art for activation of the buffer layer 8 and the anode layer 9. Afinal step of the back side processing is forming of a back sidemetallization 10 on the anode layer 9 as shown in FIG. 1 f.

In the method described above the thinning process is carried out at alate stage of the manufacturing method after front-end-of-lineprocessing and forming the top metallization layer to minimize the riskof wafer breakage when handling the thinned wafer. A pressure has to beapplied in the mechanical grinding process for thinning the wafer andleaves an imprint of any topology or structure formed on the front sidesurface or in the stack of layers of the wafer. Therefore, uniformity ofthinning is deteriorated by the topology formed on the wafer. Further,back side processing requires handling of the thinned wafer and,accordingly, involves the risk of wafer breakage. Also any contact ofthe front side of the wafer with a wafer support during treatment of thebackside results easily in particles on the front side or damaging thefront side.

As an alternative approach to further minimize the risk of waferbreakage it can be considered to form the buffer layer before thinningthe wafer by deep diffusion. However, the necessary depth of such deepdiffusion of the buffer layer increases with increasing thickness of thelayer to be removed during the thinning process. Due to the fact thatlarger wafers have a larger thickness according to the SEMI standardsforming of the buffer layer by deep diffusion before thinning of thewafer is not feasible anymore for wafers with a diameter of 200 mm ormore.

Manufacturing the device including the buffer layer by epitaxy on awafer is another possible approach to avoid handling of a thinned waferand to minimize the risk of wafer breakage. However, epitaxy ofsemiconductor layers has the disadvantage that it involves higher costscompared to the above described method for manufacturing a semiconductordevice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of the invention to provide a method for manufacturinga semiconductor device comprising a thin wafer which can minimize therisk of wafer breakage, can avoid generation of particles on the frontside during backside treatments, can avoid damaging the front sideduring back side treatments, can avoid non-uniform thickness of thewafer in the final device and is cost efficient at the same time.

The object is attained by a method for manufacturing a vertical powersemiconductor device according to claim 1. In the method of theinvention according to claim 1, the semiconductor wafer is in a statebonded to a carrier wafer during the front-end-of-line processing.Accordingly, the risk of wafer breakage is minimized during thefront-end-of-line processing no matter how thin the semiconductor waferis. Moreover, the semiconductor wafer is still bonded to the carrierwafer when the doped layer is formed on the first main side of thesemiconductor wafer by diffusion of the second impurity into thesemiconductor wafer from its first main side by heat generated duringthe front-end-of-line processing. Therefore, the risk of wafer breakagedue to handling a thin semiconductor wafer is further reduced comparedto the above described known method where forming the anode layer 9involves handling of the thinned semiconductor wafer 1′. Finally, thesecond impurity has not to be activated by an additional heat treatment,such as by a LTA process, like the buffer layer 8 and the anode layer 9have to be in the above described know method. This can avoid generationof particles on the front side during backside treatments and can avoiddamaging the front side during back side treatments.

In the method according to claim 1 the second portion of the first oxidelayer which is not doped with the second impurity acts as a diffusionbarrier for the second impurity. During the front-end-of-line processingstep the second impurity has to diffuse first through this secondportion of the first oxide layer before it diffuses into thesemiconductor wafer. By adjusting the thickness of the second portion ofthe first oxide layer which is not doped with the second impurity, thediffusion depth of the second impurity in the semiconductor wafer can beadjusted. Exemplarily, the delayed diffusion of the second impurity intothe semiconductor wafer compared to the diffusion of the first impurityinto the semiconductor wafer allows to lower the ratio of the diffusiondepth of the second impurity relative to that of the first impurity inthe semiconductor wafer.

Further developments of the disclosure are specified in the dependentclaims.

In an exemplary embodiment the method for manufacturing a semiconductordevice comprises a step of thinning the semiconductor wafer after thestep (i) of providing a semiconductor wafer but before thefront-end-of-line processing step (v). This feature has the advantagethat the thinning of the wafer is not deteriorated by the topologyformed during the front-end-of-line processing step (v) and theuniformity of the wafer thickness in the final device is improved.

In an exemplary embodiment the step of thinning the semiconductor waferis performed by thinning the semiconductor wafer from its second mainside only after the bonding step (iv). That feature has the advantagethat the risk of wafer breakage during and before the bonding step (iv)is reduced.

In another exemplary embodiment the step of thinning the semiconductorwafer is performed before the first oxide layer forming step (iii).

In an exemplary embodiment the semiconductor wafer is thinned to a finalthickness of the semiconductor wafer in the semiconductor device in thestep of thinning the semiconductor wafer.

In an exemplary embodiment the first oxide layer is formed by thermaloxidation. Thermal oxidation is a most cost efficient method for forminga silicon oxide. Further, thermal oxidation results in a silicon oxidelayer with a very homogeneous thickness.

In an exemplary embodiment the step of applying a first impurity ontothe first main side of the semiconductor wafer is performed by ionimplantation of the first impurity into the semiconductor wafer from itsfirst main side and a buffer layer in the semiconductor device is formedby diffusion of the implanted first impurity due to heat generated insubsequent method steps. Exemplarily, in case that the first oxide layeris formed by thermal oxidation, the implanted first impurity can bedriven into the semiconductor wafer by heat generated during the thermaloxidation of the semiconductor wafer.

In an exemplary embodiment a third impurity is implanted into thesemiconductor wafer through the first oxide layer to form a secondbuffer layer by diffusion of the implanted third impurity due to heatgenerated in subsequent method steps. In such manner a stepped bufferincluding the first and the third impurities may be formed.

In an exemplary embodiment the carrier wafer has a second oxide layerformed on its surface at least where the carrier wafer (115) comes intocontact with the first oxide layer (112) during the bonding step (iv) asa barrier for the impurities in the carrier wafer during thefront-end-of-line processing step (v).

In an exemplary embodiment the front-end-of-line processing step (v)comprises at least a step of forming a first anode layer and/or a firstcathode layer in the semiconductor wafer. Exemplarily, a metallizationlayer is formed on the first main side of the semiconductor wafersubsequent to the front-end-of-line processing.

In an exemplary embodiment the first oxide layer forming step (iii)comprises forming a mask on the first oxide layer and subsequent ionimplantation of the second impurity into the first oxide layer throughopenings in the mask to selectively dope areas of the first oxide layerwhich are exposed through the openings in the mask.

In an exemplary embodiment the second impurity in the first oxide layeris diffused into the semiconductor wafer by heat generated during thefront-end-of-line processing step (v) to form a second anode layerand/or a second cathode layer on the first main side of thesemiconductor wafer.

In an exemplary embodiment the semiconductor device is a diode, such asa PIN diode or a field charge extraction (FCE) diode, a gate turn-off(GTO) thyristor, an integrated gate-commutated thyristor (IGCT) or abipolar transistor such as an insulated to gate bipolar transistor(IGBT), a reverse conducting insulating gate bipolar transistor(RC-IGBT) or a bi-mode insulated gate transistor (BIGT).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Detailed embodiments of the invention will be explained below withreference to the accompanying figures, in which:

FIG. 1a to 1f illustrate a known method for manufacturing asemiconductor device comprising a thin semiconductor wafer;

FIGS. 2a to 2f illustrate a first embodiment of the method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to the invention; and

FIGS. 3a to 3f illustrate a second embodiment of the method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to the invention.

The reference signs used in the figures and their meanings aresummarized in the list of reference signs. Generally, similar elementshave the same reference signs throughout the specification. Thedescribed embodiments are meant as examples and shall not limit thescope of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 2a to 2f illustrate a first embodiment of the method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to the invention. In themethod according to the first embodiment an insulated gate bipolartransistor (IGBT) is formed. An IGBT is an example for a semiconductordevice in the claims. As shown in FIG. 2a , a low-doped n-type siliconwafer 101 having a front side 102 and a back side 103 is first provided.Therein, the silicon wafer is an example for a semiconductor wafer inthe claims. The back side 103 forms a first main side of the wafer 101and the front side 102 forms a second main side of the wafer 101. A thinphosphorous ion implantation layer 111 is formed on the back side of thewafer as also shown in FIG. 2a . Phosphorous is an example for a firstimpurity in the claims.

As a next process step, thermal oxidation of the wafer 101 is carriedout to form a thermal oxide layer 112 on the front side 102 and on theback side 103 of the wafer 101, respectively. The thermal oxide layer112 is an example for the first oxide layer in the claims. In thepresent embodiment the thickness of the thermal oxide is in a rangebetween 100 nm and 500 nm. During the thermal oxidation process step thephosphorous of the implantation layer 111 is driven towards the insideof wafer 101 by diffusion to form an n-type layer 108 which will formthe buffer layer 108 in the final device. As a next process step, aboron implantation layer 113 is formed in the oxide layer 112 on theback side 103 of the wafer 101 as indicated by arrows in FIG. 2b . Thedepth of the ion implantation is less than the thickness of the oxidelayer 112. Therefore, the boron implantation layer 113 is spaced awayfrom the semiconductor wafer 101 by a portion of the first oxide layer112 which is not doped with boron and which is disposed between theboron implantation layer 113 and the first main side 103 of thesemiconductor wafer 101.

After forming the boron implantation layer 113 in the thermal oxidelayer 112 the resulting wafer 101 as shown in FIG. 2c is bonded to acarrier wafer 115 covered with a barrier oxide layer 116 as a barrierfor impurities in the carrier wafer 115. The barrier oxide layer 116 isan example for the second oxide layer in the claims. The carrier wafer115 may be a Czochralski wafer which is produced by a Czochralskiprocess, i.e. by pulling a single crystal against gravity out of a meltwhich is held in a crucible. The semiconductor wafer 101 may be a FloatZone wafer which is produced by a floating zone process, in which anarrow region of a crystal is molten, and this molten zone is movedalong the crystal, thus producing a highly purified crystal. Compared toa Float Zone wafer, a Czochralski wafer has a higher impurityconcentration but can be produced much more cost efficient. The bondingis performed as a permanent bonding which makes it possible to performhigh temperature process steps in the subsequent front-end-of-lineprocessing described below. The permanent bonding may be made bypressing the wafer 101 to the carrier wafer 115 at high pressure.Afterwards or simultaneously a bond anneal step may be performed at atemperature of at least 300° C. Exemplarily, temperatures of at least700° C. are applied. A maximum temperature at this step may exemplarilybe 800° C.

After the bonding step a the wafer 101 is thinned down to a final ordesired thickness of the device wafer as shown in FIG. 2d , whereinreference sign 101′ refers to the thinned wafer and reference sign 102′refers to the front side of the thinned wafer 101′. The final thicknessof the device wafer may be from 115 μm for a device suitable up to 1200Vor up to 380 μm for a device suitable for up to 3300 V. Exemplarily thefinal thickness of the device wafer, i.e. of the thinned semiconductorwafer 101′ is between 100 μm and 600 μm. Here, the term device wafershall mean the semiconductor wafer including all doped semiconductorregions. The thinning process can be performed by mechanical grindingand/or etching, such as chemical etching. Exemplarily, the thinning toprocess can be performed by chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP). In thethinning process the thermal oxide layer on the front side of the wafer101 is also removed and the new front side 102′ is formed.

Thereafter, a front-end-of-line processing is performed on the frontside 102′ of the thinned silicon wafer 101′. In the present embodiment,which shows the manufacturing method for manufacturing an insulated gatebipolar transistor (IGBT), p-type regions 104, n-type regions (not shownin the figures) embedded in the p-type regions 104, oxide layers 105 andpoly-silicon gates 106 are formed during front-end-of-line processing asshown in FIG. 2e . During the front-end-of-line processing the boron ofthe boron implantation layer 113, which is an example for a secondimpurity, is driven through the oxide layer 112 into the wafer 101′ fromits backside by diffusion due to heat generated during thefront-end-of-line processing to form a p-type anode layer 109. Tocontrol the depth and thickness of the anode layer 109 an exact controlof the thermal management and of the thickness of the thermal oxidelayer 112 as well as of the implantation layer 113 is mandatory.Subsequent to the front-end-of-line processing a metallization layer inform of a top side metallization layer 107 is formed on the topologyformed before in the front-end-of-line processing on the front side 102′of the thinned wafer 101′.

As a next process step, the carrier wafer 115 is removed from the wafer101′ by mechanical grinding and/or etching, such as chemical etching,wherein the damageable wafer front side 102′ is covered by a backgrinding tape (not shown in the figures). The oxide layer at the bondinginterface may serve as an electrical control end point. For instancewhile grinding the resistance of the surface may be monitored. When thegrinding process reaches the oxide layer a sudden change of resistancewill occur. The remaining oxide layer may be selectively etched withoutetching the first wafer 101′ to control the removal of the carrier wafer115 and the oxide layers 112 and 116 between the carrier wafer 115 andthe semiconductor wafer 101′ without affecting the anode layer 109.Finally, a metallization layer in form of a back side metallizationlayer 110 is formed on the anode layer 109 to obtain the semiconductordevice as shown in FIG. 2f . Forming the back side metallization layer110 is performed at a temperature below 500° C. for metal evaporationand subsequent sintering.

FIGS. 3a to 3f illustrate a second embodiment of the method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to the invention. Thesecond embodiment is similar to the first embodiment but thesemiconductor device manufactured by the described method is a reverseconducting IGBT (RC-IGBT). The RC-IGBT differs from an IGBT in that in aRC-IGBT a structured anode layer having alternatingly p and n dopedregions. Only the differences are described and the same referencenumbers as in the first embodiment are used for the same elements.

FIG. 3a corresponds to FIG. 2a as the first method step of providing thewafer 101 and forming the phosphorous implantation layer 111 on thebackside of the wafer 101 is the same in the first and in the secondembodiment. Next the thermal oxide layer 112 shown in FIG. 3b is formedas in the first embodiment. However, before ion implantation of boron isperformed, a masking layer 220 is formed on the back side 103 of thewafer 101 to partially cover the oxide layer 112 formed on the back side103 of the wafer 101. The masking layer 220 may be a resist layer, forexample. After forming the masking layer 220 ion implantation isperformed on the back side 103 of the wafer 101 as in the firstembodiment. As in FIG. 2b for the first embodiment ion implantation isagain indicated by arrows in FIG. 3b for the second embodiment. By theion implantation through the openings in the masking layer 220, a thinstructured boron implantation layer 213 is formed in the thermal oxidelayer 112 on the back side 103 of the wafer 101. Also in this secondembodiment, the implantation depth of boron shall be less than thethickness of the oxide layer 112. Subsequent steps of bonding the wafer101 to a carrier wafer 115 and thinning the wafer 101 down to its finalthickness as shown in FIG. 3d , of a front-end-of-line processing on thefront side 102′ of the thinned wafer 101′ and of forming a metallizationlayer in form of a top metallization layer 107 on the thus formedtopology as shown in FIG. 3e as well as of removing the carrier waferand forming a metallization layer in form of a back side metallizationlayer 110 as shown in FIG. 3f are similar to the method steps asdescribed with FIGS. 2d to 2f for the first embodiment. However, in thesecond embodiment a structured anode layer 209 is formed instead of thecontinuous anode layer 109 as in the first embodiment by diffusion ofboron from the structured implantation layer 213 which is driven throughthe oxide layer 112 into the wafer 101′ from its backside due to heatgenerated during the front-end-of-line processing.

It will be apparent for persons skilled in the art that modifications ofthe above described embodiments are possible without departing from theidea of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

The method of the invention to manufacture a semiconductor devicecomprising a thin wafer was described for manufacturing an IGBT in thefirst embodiment and for manufacturing a RC-IGBT in the secondembodiment. However, the method of the invention can also be used tomanufacture other semiconductor devices which comprise a thinsemiconductor wafer and require a front-end-of-line processing on thefront side of the semiconductor wafer as well as forming of a dopedlayer on the back side of the semiconductor wafer. Other semiconductordevices which can be manufactured by the method of the invention asdefined in the appended claims are a bi-mode insulated gate transistor(BIGT), a PIN diode, a field charge extraction (FCE) diode, a gateturn-off (GTO) thyristor, an integrated gate-commutated thyristor(IGCT), for example. A BIGT is a RC-IGBT having pilot p-type anoderegions on the first main side (back side) in a central area of thewafer. Each pilot region area is an area, in which any two n-doped firstregions, which are arranged on the border to the pilot region, have adistance across the pilot region bigger than two times the base layerthickness (n-doped layer). That means that the pilot region may beenclosed by first regions which have a smaller distance to each other,but across the pilot region area, the distance between any two firstregions has to be larger than two times the base layer thickness. A BIGTis described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,212,283 B2, for example.

In the above described embodiments boron was given as an example for asecond impurity in the claims. However, depending on the semiconductordevice which is to be manufactured, the second impurity may be any otherdopant and may not only be a p-type dopant but may also be an n-typedopant. For example for manufacturing a PIN diode an n-type dopant maybe used as the second impurity.

When manufacturing a PIN diode comprising a semiconductor wafer, forexample, the highly doped n-type layer on the back side of a wafer canbe formed by implanting an n-type dopant as an example for a secondimpurity into an oxide layer formed on the back side of the wafer. Theimplanted n-type dopant will then diffuse through the oxide layer intothe back side of the wafer by heat applied throughout the subsequentfront-end-of-line processing which includes the step of forming a highlydoped p-type layer on the front side of the wafer. The n-type dopantused as a second impurity may be phosphorous or arsenic, for example.

In the above described second embodiment it was described to form astructured p-type anode layer by using a structured or patterned boronimplantation layer. However, depending on the semiconductor device to bemanufactured, it is also possible to have a structured implantationlayer with a combination of two different dopants (for example an n-typedopant and a p-type dopant) by first forming the structured pattern ofthe first dopant as described in the above second embodiment with afirst masking layer, then removing the first masking layer used forforming the structured pattern of the first dopant implantation layer,forming a second masking layer on the oxide layer on the wafer back side(first main side in the claims) and finally implanting the second dopantthrough the openings of the second masking layer. In this way a patternof n-type and p-type layers can be formed in the final device. Suchpattern would be required for a field charge extraction (FCE) diode, forexample. Also in this modified embodiment, the implantation depth of thefirst and of the second dopant shall be less than the thickness of theoxide layer, respectively.

Phosphorous was used in the above first and second embodiment as anexample for the first impurity in the claims. However, depending on thesemiconductor device to be manufactured, any other dopant may be used asthe first impurity in the claims. It can be either an n-type dopant or ap-type dopant.

In the above described embodiments a p-type dopant was used as anexample for the second impurity in the claims and an n-type dopant wasused as an example for the first impurity in the claims. However, thefirst and the second impurity in the claims do not have to be dopants ofa different conductivity type. The first and the second impurity may beboth n-type dopants or may be both p-type dopants.

In the above described embodiments ion implantation was used to applythe first impurity onto the back side of the wafer. Other methods ofapplying the first impurity onto the back side of the wafer could beused such as depositing the first impurity onto the back side. The firstimpurity could be deposited onto the back side of the wafer in form of adoped glass layer, for example. In general, in the claims, applying animpurity onto the first main side means providing an impurity at thefirst main side of the semiconductor wafer by implanting the impurityinto the semiconductor wafer from its first main side or by depositing alayer, which is doped with the impurity, directly on the first main sideof the semiconductor wafer.

In the above described embodiments a low-doped n-type silicon wafer wasused as an example for a semiconductor wafer in the claims. However,depending on the semiconductor device to be manufactured, any othersemiconductor wafer can be used. The semiconductor wafer must not be asilicon substrate but can be of any other semiconductor material. It canbe an n-type, p-type or intrinsic semiconductor wafer.

In the above described embodiments thinning of the semiconductor waferwas performed after the bonding step but it can also be performed beforethe bonding step.

In the above described embodiments the top and back metallization layerswas performed separately but the top metallization layer may also beformed simultaneously together with the back metallization layer in thesame process step after the step of removing the carrier wafer.

In the above described embodiments the front-end-of-line processingcomprised steps of forming p-type regions, n-type regions embedded inthe p-type regions, oxide layers and poly-silicon gates. However,depending on the device to be manufactured, the front-end-of-lineprocessing may comprise other process steps. It is sufficient if thefront-end-of-line processing comprises process steps during which enoughheat is generated to drive the second impurity from the oxide layer intothe semiconductor wafer from its first main side by diffusion. Suchprocess step can be a step for forming an anode layer and/or a cathodelayer, for example. The temperature during at least one step of thefront-end-of-line processing is exemplarily above 900° C., exemplarilyabove 950° C. and exemplarily above 1250° C. For power semiconductordevices such high temperature step may be the step of activation anddiffusion of a dopant subsequent to its implantation into thesemiconductor wafer front side (i.e. the second main side in theclaims).

In the above described embodiments, boron as a first dopant wasimplanted into the oxide layer 112 by ion implantation to form an oxidelayer on the front side of the wafer which is partially doped with thefirst dopant. However, it is also possible to incorporate the firstdopant during the growth of the oxide layer 112 by adding a precursorfor the first dopant to the vapour during thermal oxidation of thesemiconductor wafer, for example. In this case the precursor shall beadded to the vapour only after a predetermined time after the start ofthe thermal oxidation.

It should be noted that the term “comprising” does not exclude otherelements or steps and that the indefinite article “a” or “an” does notexclude the plural. Also elements described in association withdifferent embodiments may be combined.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

-   -   1 wafer    -   1′ thinned wafer    -   2 front side    -   3 back side    -   3′ back side of thinned wafer    -   4 p-type region    -   5 oxide layer    -   6 poly-silicon gate    -   7 top metallization    -   8 buffer layer    -   9 anode layer    -   10 back side metallization    -   101 wafer    -   101′ thinned wafer    -   102 front side    -   102′ front side of thinned wafer    -   103 back side    -   103′ back side of thinned wafer    -   104 p-type region    -   105 oxide layer    -   106 poly-silicon gate    -   107 top metallization layer    -   108 buffer layer    -   109 anode layer    -   110 back side metallization layer    -   111 phosphorous implantation layer    -   112 oxide layer    -   113 boron implantation layer    -   115 carrier wafer    -   116 oxide barrier layer    -   209 anode layer    -   213 boron implantation layer    -   220 masking layer

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for manufacturing a vertical powersemiconductor device, wherein the method comprises the following steps:(a) providing a semiconductor wafer having a first main side and asecond main side opposite to the first main side; (b) applying a firstimpurity onto the first main side; (c) forming a first oxide layer on atleast the first main side of the semiconductor wafer; (d) after step (c)bonding a carrier wafer to the first oxide layer on the first main sideof the semiconductor wafer; (e) after the bonding step (d)front-end-of-line processing on the second main side of thesemiconductor wafer; (f) after the front-end-of-line processing step (e)at least partially removing the carrier wafer and the first oxide layeron the first main side of the semiconductor wafer; and (g) after theremoving step (f) forming a back metallization layer on the first mainside of the semiconductor wafer to form an Ohmic contact to thesemiconductor wafer, wherein in step (c) partially doping the firstoxide layer formed on the first main side of the semiconductor waferwith a second impurity in such way that any first portion of the firstoxide layer which is doped with the second impurity is spaced away fromthe semiconductor wafer by a second portion of the first oxide layerwhich is not doped with the second impurity and which is disposedbetween the first portion of the first oxide layer and the first mainside of the semiconductor wafer, in step (e) diffusing the secondimpurity from the first oxide layer into the semiconductor wafer fromits first main side by heat generated during the front-end-of-lineprocessing, in step (f) completely removing the carrier wafer and thefirst oxide layer on the first main side of the semiconductor wafer. 2.The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim1, comprising a step of thinning the semiconductor wafer after step (a)but before the front-end-of-line processing step (e).
 3. The method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 2, wherein thestep of thinning the semiconductor wafer is performed by thinning thesemiconductor wafer from its second main side after the bonding step(d).
 4. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according toclaim 2, wherein the step of thinning the semiconductor wafer isperformed before the first oxide layer forming step (c).
 5. The methodfor manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, whereinthe first oxide layer is formed by thermal oxidation.
 6. The method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein thestep (b) of applying a first impurity onto its first main side isperformed by ion implantation of the first impurity into thesemiconductor wafer from its first main side and a buffer layer in thesemiconductor device is formed by diffusion of the implanted firstimpurity due to heat generated in subsequent method steps.
 7. The methodfor manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein athird impurity is implanted into the semiconductor wafer through thefirst oxide layer to form a second buffer layer by diffusion of theimplanted third impurity due to heat generated in subsequent methodsteps.
 8. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device accordingto claim 1, wherein the carrier wafer has a second oxide layer formed onits surface at least where the carrier wafer comes into contact with thefirst oxide layer during the bonding step (d) as a barrier for theimpurities in the carrier wafer during the front-end-of-line processingstep (e).
 9. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the front-end-of-line processing step (e)comprises at least a step of forming at least one of a first anode layeror a first cathode layer on the second main side of the semiconductorwafer.
 10. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device accordingto claim 1, wherein the first oxide layer forming step (c) comprisesforming a mask on the first oxide layer and subsequent ion implantationof the second impurity into the first oxide layer through openings inthe mask to selectively dope areas of the first oxide layer which areexposed through the openings in the mask.
 11. The method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein thesecond impurity in the first oxide layer is diffused into thesemiconductor wafer by heat generated during the front-end-of-lineprocessing step (e) to form at least one of a second anode layer or asecond cathode layer on the first main side of the semiconductor wafer.12. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according toclaim 1, wherein the semiconductor device is a diode, a gate turn-off(GTO) thyristor, an integrated gate-commutated thyristor (IGCT), abipolar transistor such as an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT),a reverse conducting insulating gate bipolar transistor (RC-IGBT) or abi-mode insulated gate transistor (BIGT).
 13. The method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 2, wherein thefirst oxide layer is formed by thermal oxidation.
 14. The method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 3, wherein thefirst oxide layer is formed by thermal oxidation.
 15. The method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein thestep (h) of applying a first impurity onto its first main side isperformed by ion implantation of the first impurity into thesemiconductor wafer from its first main side and a buffer layer in thesemiconductor device is formed by diffusion of the implanted firstimpurity due to heat generated in subsequent steps; wherein the firstoxide layer is formed by thermal oxidation; comprising a step ofthinning the semiconductor wafer after step (a) but before thefront-end-of-line processing step (e); wherein the step of thinning thesemiconductor wafer is performed by thinning the semiconductor waferfrom its second main side after the bonding step.
 16. The method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 2, wherein athird impurity is implanted into the semiconductor wafer, through thefirst oxide layer to form a second buffer layer by diffusion of theimplanted third impurity due to heat generated in subsequent methodsteps.
 17. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device accordingto claim 15, wherein a third impurity is implanted into thesemiconductor wafer, through the first oxide layer to form a secondbuffer layer by diffusion of the implanted third impurity due to heatgenerated in subsequent method steps.
 18. The method for manufacturing asemiconductor device according to claim 2, wherein the first oxide layerforming step (c) comprises forming a mask on the first oxide layer andsubsequent ion implantation of the second impurity into the first oxidelayer.
 19. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device accordingto claim 3, wherein the first oxide layer forming step (c) comprisesforming a mask on the first oxide layer and subsequent ion implantationof the second impurity into the first oxide layer.
 20. The method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein thesemiconductor device is one of a diode, a gate turn-off (GTO) thyristor,an integrated gate-commutated thyristor (IGCT), a bipolar transistorsuch as an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), a reverseconducting insulating gate bipolar transistor (RC-IGBT) or a bi-modeinsulated gate transistor (BIGT); wherein the second impurity in thefirst oxide layer is diffused into the semiconductor wafer by heatgenerated during the front-end-of-line processing step (e) to form atleast one of a second anode layer or a second cathode layer on the firstmain side of the semiconductor wafer; comprising a step of thinning thesemiconductor wafer after step (a) but before the front-end-of-lineprocessing step (e); and wherein the step of thinning the semiconductorwafer is performed before the first oxide layer forming step (c).